The leadership roles of the child care centre supervisor in Singapore

The purpose of this study was; (a) to describe the current situation of child care provision in Singapore; (b) to define the meaning of leadership and the responsibilities involved in effective leadership in a child care setting; and (c) to investigate and describe the leadership roles that child care centre supervisors need to perform in the day to day running of their centres from the perspective of the child care supervisors. A total of 15 supervisors from the private sector were interviewed in-depth. They were asked to describe all facets of their leadership roles in their centres. The results of this study suggest strongly that the child care centre supervisors are relatively young and inexperienced. Most of them have very little training in management and leadership skills. Many have acquired management and leadership knowledge through trial and error. Therefore, more systematic and effective training needs to be employed before most of them can become effective leaders in the child care profession

Incorrect identification of recent Asian strains of Coxsackievirus A16 as human enterovirus 71: Improved primers for the specific detection of human enterovirus 71 by RT PCR

BACKGROUND: Human enterovirus 71 has emerged as an important pathogen in the Asia Pacific region and it is important to be able to make a rapid and specific diagnosis for outbreak control. Recent Asian strains of Coxsackievirus A16 have changes in the VP1 gene which causes mispriming of widely used primers for human enterovirus 71 specific identification. METHODS: Local strains of Coxsackievirus A16 were sequenced in the VP4 and VP1 genes and using sequence alignment tools, an improved set of primers were designed for specific identification of human enterovirus 71. These primers were evaluated against virus isolates as well as primary clinical specimens. RESULTS: A total of 218 virus strains were tested. All 39 human enterovirus 71 isolates were positive and none of the 38 Coxsackievirus A16, 127 other enteroviruses and 14 prototype flaviviruses and adenoviruses were positive when tested with the new primers. When aliquots of primary specimens known to have yielded human enterovirus 71 were retrospectively tested, we found that within 2 months of collection of the specimens, greater than 90% were positive but that the success rate diminished rapidly to 18% after 2 years storage. CONCLUSIONS: Our new primers will be useful in rapid diagnosis of human enterovirus 71 infection, and can also be used as a screening tool in surveillance programmes for early warning of human enterovirus 71 transmission

Nutrients and Oxidative Stress: Friend or Foe?

There are different types of nutritionally mediated oxidative stress sources that trigger inflammation. Much information indicates that high intakes of macronutrients can promote oxidative stress and subsequently contribute to inflammation via nuclear factor-kappa B- (NF-κB-) mediated cell signaling pathways. Dietary carbohydrates, animal-based proteins, and fats are important to highlight here because they may contribute to the long-term consequences of nutritionally mediated inflammation. Oxidative stress is a central player of metabolic ailments associated with high-carbohydrate and animal-based protein diets and excessive fat consumption. Obesity has become an epidemic and represents the major risk factor for several chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms of nutritionally mediated oxidative stress are complex and poorly understood. Therefore, this review aimed to explore how dietary choices exacerbate or dampen the oxidative stress and inflammation. We also discussed the implications of oxidative stress in the adipocyte and glucose metabolism and obesity-associated noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Taken together, a better understanding of the role of oxidative stress in obesity and the development of obesity-related NCDs would provide a useful approach. This is because oxidative stress can be mediated by both extrinsic and intrinsic factors, hence providing a plausible means for the prevention of metabolic disorders

Phytoremediation of palm oil mill effluent (POME) using Eichhornia crassipes

The inefficiency and lengthy treatment process of conventional open ponding method has posed challenges to palm oil industry in treating highly polluting palm oil mill effluent (POME), thus there is a need to look for a more efficient and sustainable alternative solution. Phytoremediation has been recommended as a potential method for wastewater treatment due to its economical and environmental advantages. However, research on phytoremediation of POME using Eichhornia crassipes (E. crassipes) is still limited. This study aims to determine the feasibility of applying phytoremediation using E. crassipes for POME treatment by investigating the effects of pH, plant: POME ratio and retention time on the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solid (TSS) in POME. The highest BOD removal of 92.78% was achieved after 21 days retention time at pH 4 with plant: POME ratio of 1:20 kg/L. The highest COD removal of 25.24% was achieved after 14 days retention time at pH 6 with plant: POME ratio of 1:20 kg/L. Phytoremediation using E. crassipes was shown to be a promising eco-friendly technique for POME treatment, considering the shorter treatment time required and its effectiveness in reducing the BOD in POME to meet the discharge standard of 20 mg/L

Phytoremediation of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) Using Eichhornia crassipes

It is inevitable that the manufacturing process of palm oil is accompanied by the generation of a massive amount of high strength wastewater, namely palm oil mill effluent (POME), which could pose serious threat to the aquatic environment. POME which contains high organic compounds originating from biodegradable materials causes water pollution if not properly managed. Palm oil industries are facing the challenges to make ends meet in the aspects of natural assurance, financial reasonability and development sustainability. It is therefore crucial to seek a practical solution to achieve the goal of environmental protection while continuing the economic sustainability. Phytoremediation has been proven as a potential method for removal or degradation of various hazardous contaminants. However, research on phytoremediation of POME using Eichhornia crassipes (E. crassipes) is still limited. This study aims to determine the feasibility of applying phytoremediation technique using E. crassipes for POME treatment. The effects of pH, plant:POME ratio and retention time on the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solid (TSS) of POME were investigated. The highest BOD removal of 92.6% was achieved after 21 days retention time at pH 4 with plant:POME ratio of 1:20 kg/L. The highest COD removal of 20.7% was achieved after 14 days retention time at pH 6 with plant:POME ratio of 1:20 kg/L. Phytoremediation using E. crassipes was shown to be a promising eco-friendly technique for POME treatment, and is therefore recommended as a good alternative treatment solution for this industrial effluent

Deep Learning in Breast Cancer Imaging: A Decade of Progress and Future Directions

Breast cancer has reached the highest incidence rate worldwide among all malignancies since 2020. Breast imaging plays a significant role in early diagnosis and intervention to improve the outcome of breast cancer patients. In the past decade, deep learning has shown remarkable progress in breast cancer imaging analysis, holding great promise in interpreting the rich information and complex context of breast imaging modalities. Considering the rapid improvement in the deep learning technology and the increasing severity of breast cancer, it is critical to summarize past progress and identify future challenges to be addressed. In this paper, we provide an extensive survey of deep learning-based breast cancer imaging research, covering studies on mammogram, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, and digital pathology images over the past decade. The major deep learning methods, publicly available datasets, and applications on imaging-based screening, diagnosis, treatment response prediction, and prognosis are described in detail. Drawn from the findings of this survey, we present a comprehensive discussion of the challenges and potential avenues for future research in deep learning-based breast cancer imaging.Comment: Survey, 41 page

Incorrect identification of recent Asian strains of Coxsackievirus A16 as human enterovirus 71: Improved primers for the specific detection of human enterovirus 71 by RT PCR

Background: Human enterovirus 71 has emerged as an important pathogen in the Asia Pacific region and it is important to be able to make a rapid and specific diagnosis for outbreak control. Recent Asian strains of Coxsackievirus A16 have changes in the VP1 gene which causes mispriming of widely used primers for human enterovirus 71 specific identification. Methods: Local strains of Coxsackievirus A16 were sequenced in the VP4 and VP1 genes and using sequence alignment tools, an improved set of primers were designed for specific identification of human enterovirus 71. These primers were evaluated against virus isolates as well as primary clinical specimens. Results: A total of 218 virus strains were tested. All 39 human enterovirus 71 isolates were positive and none of the 38 Coxsackievirus A16, 127 other enteroviruses and 14 prototype flaviviruses and adenoviruses were positive when tested with the new primers. When aliquots of primary specimens known to have yielded human enterovirus 71 were retrospectively tested, we found that within 2 months of collection of the specimens, greater than 90% were positive but that the success rate diminished rapidly to 18% after 2 years storage. Conclusions: Our new primers will be useful in rapid diagnosis of human enterovirus 71 infection, and can also be used as a screening tool in surveillance programmes for early warning of human enterovirus 71 transmission

Surveillance of Broad-Spectrum Antibiotic Prescription in Singaporean Hospitals: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study

10.1371/journal.pone.0028751PLoS ONE612

Ammoniacal nitrogen removal by Eichhornia crassipes-based phytoremediation : process optimization using response surface methodology

Eutrophication is a serious environmental issue that needs urgent concern. There is necessity to treat wastewater with high ammoniacal nitrogen (AN) concentration to the permissible standard limit to protect the aquatic ecosystem. This study investigated the optimum condition for AN removal from wastewater using Eichhornia crassipes-based phytoremediation process. Face-centered central composite design (CCD) was employed as the experimental design, in which four operational variables including pH (4–10), retention time (2–14 days), macrophyte density (5–30 g/L) and salinity (0–5 g NaCl/L) were involved in the study, while five responses were investigated, namely AN removal efficiency (Y1), fresh biomass growth (Y2), COD (Y3), BOD (Y4) and TSS (Y5). AN removal was the main focus in this study. Through numerical optimization, the highest AN removal efficiency of 77.48% (initial AN concentration = 40 mg/L) was obtained at the following optimum condition: pH 8.51, retention time of 8.47 days, macrophyte density of 21.39 g/L and salinity of 0 g NaCl/L. The values predicted from the models agreed satisfactorily with the experimental values, which implied that response surface methodology was reliable and practical for experimental design developed using optimization of the phytoremediation process. The validation experiment using real semiconductor effluent further supported the high potential of the E. crassipes-based phytoremediation system to remove AN and other organic pollutants in this industrial effluent under optimal conditio

Phytoremediation Of Ammoniacal Nitrogen In Wastewater Using Eichhornia Crassipes : Tolerance Limit And Ph Study

High ammoniacal nitrogen (AN) in industrial effluent must be treated before final discharge to prevent eutrophication phenomenon. Phytoremediation is recommended to be a better solution to treat wastewater with high AN content due to its cost-effective, environmental friendly and sustainable characteristics. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) has been widely applied in phytoremediation technology to remove various types of pollutants. In this study, AN synthetic wastewater with varied AN concentrations of 10-200 mg/L was prepared to conduct tolerance limit test of water hyacinth for 10 days. The effect of pH on the physico-chemical parameters of AN synthetic wastewater and water hyacinth biomass growth was also investigated. Under sunlight exposure, it was found that water hyacinth was able to survive up to 150 mg/L of AN concentration for a duration of 10 days. The results showed that pH factor posed a significant impact on biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and biomass growth of water hyacinth whereas less significant impact was exhibited on chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS). Overall, water hyacinth has been shown to be a feasible macrophyte for phytoremediation of AN in wastewater